Specially Selected
by amityspark
Summary: Even though Eleanor is determined to be by herself when she first moved to Amity Park, Tucker is determined to make her open up. But she's only trying to protect everyone from her dark secret. (Rated T for language)
1. Chapter 1

I was on my knees, placing the textbook obtained from my last class and putting it with the four others. The floor felt cold through my jeans and you can see that the janitors haven't been doing there job well. I stand up and wipe the dust off my shins. Then I drop my binder on accident as I pick it up from the nasty tiles, one of my brown hairs falls out of it's place. And because it was my first day at Casper High School, anything could so easily tick me off.

I feel I slam my locker shut with all my irritation from the whole day, and I hear it echo through the long and populated hallway. Every head turns my way and look down like I don't even notice. The last thing I needed was attention. I've moved around a lot, and Amity Park seems like one of those places where the new kid is going to stand out more than they should. But it's been like that most places I've been to and I never live somewhere long enough to not be the new kid.

I look down and attempt to walk out of the hallway but I feel a tap on my shoulder. I made a quick turn around and pointed at the person, "Don't touch me." I growled. But then I try to recognize who I'm pointing at. He had glasses, a red beret, and a PDA in his other hand. I recognize him from somewhere-a past class maybe?

"Sorry." He apologized, but it didn't sound sincere. "You're Eleanor Monroe, right?"

The fact that this boy knew my name made me uneasy. "Who's asking?" I replied. I tried to repel him so that I can be alone for the next three minutes before I get to the gym. I'm not good with other humans beings. They aren't very good with me either.

"I'm Tucker, Tucker Foley." He reached out his hand for me to shake.

I didn't shake his hand, I just left him hanging. The quicker he sees that I'm not interested in becoming anyone's friend, the better. " Look," I say, "I know you're trying to be nice, but I'm not looking for a friend right now." I don't give him the option to reply as I turn on my heel and walk towards my next class.

I look at my feet and I run through questions in my mind. The same questions that go through me every time I have human interaction. _Why'd he do that? Was he being nice? Or was he dared by his friends to try to have a conversation with the new girl? Why'd he do that?_

I give the teacher the note he was supposed to sign and he scribbled on it. It didn't look like he thought anything of it, even when he told me to sit in the last desk in the second row. I sat down and twiddled my thumbs as people walked into the classroom. Two people sat down on either side of me and I refused to look up from my desktop.

When the bell signalled that everyone was due in class, the teacher stood up and said, "Good morning class, today we are working on page eight-twenty-two and we have a new student." I shrunk in my chair and tried to hide as best as I could. "Stand up, Eleanor."

I cringed and then stood up in my seat, and gave a single wave to the twenty sets of eyes trained on me. Then I sat back down. I hoped that would be it and I curled back up into my little ball.

"Where'd you move here from?" The teacher asked.

"Florida." I mumbled only loud enough for the class to hear me.

"Well that's a big change from the sunny state to Amity Park. I hope you find your stay here well." The teacher smiled and I slouched in my chair. To my relief he moved on to the actual teaching part. It was all things I learned at my old school, that I could tell, so I allowed myself wander off.

When the school bell I rang I walked out of class calmly when I felt like running because I wanted to get to lunch fast. When I began to walk out of the class, I get called to the teacher's desk. "Ms. Monroe," He looked me in the eyes in a way that sent shivers through my body. "I'll let it slide this time, but next time I want you paying attention in my class, not staring at the drawings on you're desk."

Shit, I was busted. "It won't happen, again." I lied.

"It better not." He said and I dismissed myself to lunch.

I power walked through the hallway towards my locker and grabbed the paper bag that contained my lunch. I calmly walked into the full cafeteria. For the first time today, I felt lucky as I walked towards the empty table in the corner. I sat down and pulled an apple out of the brown bag. But then I heard a familiar voice that made me remember that nothing can go well on your first day of school.

"Hey, Eleanor!" Tucker waved from the table next to me. I moved the palm of my hand to my face and tried to pretend as if I wasn't even my self. He kept saying, "Eleanor, it's me, Tucker!" Then he walked towards me. He sat down in the seat across from me. "Hey, El, how's you're first day going?"

"Did I not make it clear earlier today that I didn't need any company?" I asked.

"I saw it as a sign for me to try harder." He smiled.

"You should take it as a sign to leave me alone." I tell him.

"Do you wanna come sit with my friends and me?" He pointed his thumb towards the table next to the one we were at and I don't even bother to look.

I reach into the paper bag and pull out a pudding cup, "You can have this if you leave me alone." I tell him.

"Sweet!" He smiles as he takes the pudding cup out of my hand and walked back to his table. I sighed and took a bite into my apple. I felt eyes staring at me from every part of the room. I hear questions that are whispered in hopes I don't hear them. And as usual, I look down like I don't even notice.

I finish my apple quickly. When I look up around the room I suddenly don't feel like eating the sandwich I packed. I get up and throw away the sack and I sit down at the table again. I pulled a book out of my backpack that I had already read over the Summer, just so I didn't look to awkward.

I wasn't always like this. Every other time I moved to a new school, I was open to new friends and stuff. But because of what happen a month ago, I don't think it'd be safe for anyone to be near me. When the memories of that cold, black night come back to me, shivers run down my spine. Because I know that he could be watching me right now, waiting to attack.

Somehow, I survived the rest of my classes that day. And even though Tucker ate the pudding cup, I caught him several times that day waving at me and trying to catch my attention. Because it was my first day, I expected to get a little break and have less homework than the others because they were learning different things than I was, but I got even more.

When I got home my parents weren't really in the mood to talk. They asked me how my day went and if I made any friends and I quickly told them that I had a ton of homework and they sent me to room to do it. I don't talk to my parents that much. We never have much to talk about. When I was done with my homework, we talk over dinner.

"So, where are we moving to next?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" My mother said.

"Tell me what?" I said while poking at my peas.

My mom and dad held hands and looked at each other lovingly. The long pause made me believe that I wasn't going to enjoy the news. But as soon as I put the spoon full of peas in my mouth, they said at once, "We're staying here!"

I began coughing as the pea was lodged in my throat. My mom got behind me and pressed on my stomach, causing the pea to fly back out of my mouth. When I had the ability to talk, I asked, "What?"

"We're living in Amity Park until your done with high school." My dad told me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well," My mother tried to explain, "You always complain about how we always move all the time and we thought that this was the perfect place to settle down for a while."

"But I don't like it here!" I said.

"C'mon, El, give this place a chance. One second you're hating everything about this place, and the next you want to kiss payment because you love it so much." My dad told me.

"And you'll finally have time for a _boyfriend_." She sang on that final word.

"Uh," I stood up and carried my plate to the trash can. "I've had a long day. I'm gonna go to bed early." I told them. They both shouted their good nights at me as I walked up the stairs towards my room.

My mom is currently working as a cashier at a store in the mall and my dad is . . . I don't even know what because he changes careers so many times. He was selling lumber in Florida. I think he told me what he does now, but I forgot. We don't get much money and I'm not sure how we make it through the weeks where my dad doesn't even have a job.

I close my door shut and look around my room. It's almost empty, because everything but ourselves in a yard sale before we move every year. All there was was a mattress in the corner with a heavy blanket and pillow. The sun went down around five o'clock in Florida, but the sun is still up here. I was tired from the whole day and I felt like going to bed early, but I felt like there was something wrong with that.

'It's only because you don't like to sleep somewhere you're not familiar with.' I think to myself. I then decide that I should just sleep if I am tired, so I prepare for bed. When I'm done showering and changing into my pajamas I crawl into bed. But I couldn't sleep even if my life depended on it. Something was definitely off about Amity Park.


	2. Chapter 2

I unlocked my locker and swung the door open. I pulled out my lunch and then closed it. My teacher did hold me after class so I was more on time today. When got off the floor, I saw a blonde boy with blue eyes. I think I've seen him around before, but I don't think I would want to remember someone in a letter jacket.

"So how's Casper High treating you?" He asked.

"Uh," I quickly think of a way to get him out of my sites, "Am I supposed to know who you are? Do you even know who I am?"

"I'm Dash Baxter. Casper's best quarterback ever." He told me. "And you're Eleanor Monroe, the new girl from Florida."

"Is that my label?" I asked.

"Well, sort of, because you _are_ the new girl." Dash said.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"What?" He replied with confusion.

"I have a lunch to eat and, believe it or not, I'm not in the mood for making any friends." I informed him harshly.

"What about someone more than friends?" He raised his eyebrows repeatedly and he gave me a smile that made me want to slap him. I just rolled my eyes and walked into the cafeteria across the hall.

I sat down at the same table I sat at yesterday and placed my face inside my hands while my elbows rested on the table top. But then I heard another voice, "So you'll talk to Dash, but you just ignore?"

I looked up at Tucker, "I didn't pack a pudding cup today, so I'm just going to politely tell you to leave me alone."

"What does Dash have that my friends and I don't?" He asked.

"A lower I.Q." I tell him.

"Wait, what?" He asked.

I place my elbow on the table and use the palm of my hand to cover one of my tired eyes, "Did you seriously think I enjoyed talking to that douche bag?" I don't make eye contact with him, until I don't hear anything. "So now your silent?"

"It's just that I wouldn't think of you to automatically dislike Dash." Tucker said. "Most girls go crazy for him."

"I'm not real fond of the human race." I tell him.

"Not all of the human race is bad." Tucker pointed towards his table next to the one we were at. "My friends and I don't like Dash, either. See we're people you can bond with."

"I'm not a big fan of bonding either." I open a plastic bag and place one of the green grapes in my mouth. After some silence, I look up at Tucker, who was still sitting across from me. "You can leave now."

"Give us three days." He said quickly.

"What?" I asked.

"Sit with us at lunch for three days, and if you don't like us you can sit here all by yourself for the rest of your high school life." Tucker said.

"And if I say no?" I raise one of my eyebrows.

"I'll keep bugging you for the rest of your time at here." Tucker smiled. "You have no choice."

"Fine." I say harshly and then I pick up the plastic bag and the paper bag.

I stand up and follow Tucker to the next table. For the first time I look at his friends. There were two sitting at a table for six. There was a girl with black hair that matched her clothes except for her bright purple tights. She didn't look at me as I neared her; She continued pecking at her salad. But the boy - I stopped in my tracks because of the boy. I looked down as his bright blue eyes came in contact with mine.

"Eleanor, this is Danny and Sam." He said pointing to the friends. "Danny, Sam, this is Eleanor. She's new."

"Hi." I said awkwardly as I sat down across from them. They sat right next to each other on the other side of the table. I felt like I was being interrogated while being all alone on the other side.

"So where'd you move here from?" Sam asked, not sounding amused.

"Florida." I say flatly.

"Florida?" Danny asked. "Did you just visit the space center in Cape Canaveral?" He seemed a little excited about that question and eager for the answer.

"Yeah," I said, "On a field trip. Why?"

"I want to be an astronaut. So that's one of my dream vacations." Danny explained.

I raised my eyes eyebrows sarcastically for a quick second. Then I began to eat my grapes again. I always felt wierd eating in front of people. My dad told me to my face that I was an ugly eater.

"Danny!" An unfamiliar voice shouted from the cafeteria entrance. She had bright orange hair and bright aqua pants. She ran towards the table were all of us sat and spoke to the boy she was searching for, "Danny, there's a gho - who's this?"

"Eleanor." I say flatly.

"Ooh!" She looks at Danny with a smile and then looks back at me, "You're the new girl, aren't you?"

I tap my nose with my middle finger instead of my index finger, like charades, while sipping on my juice box. I meant to insult her, but she didn't catch it. It's my second day here and I'm already tired of being called "the new girl."

"Welcome to Amity Park." She says happily as I roll my eyes. Then she turns her attention back to Danny. "Danny, you need to come with me." She grabs him by the wrist and drags him into the hall.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Jazz, Danny's sister." Tucker informs me.

"She's lovely." I say sarcastically, sipping on my juice box, again.

Then I felt my hair fly around me and papers do the same around the room. Wind? Inside? Something was wrong. I look behind me and see it the wind swirling around a large, green . . . octopus? That was something no one sees everyday.

"Ghost!" Someone yells from across the room.

I turn to Sam and Tucker who were the only others not running for the exit. "Ghost?" I ask raising both my eyebrows. I was a little freaked out.

"Heh heh," Sam laughs awkwardly, "Out town's haunted." She shrugs and smiles and I just turn back around towards the exit, but then I see a black and silver figure floating towards the octopus. It punches the green ghost in the side, and then they both turn intangible and then phase through the wall and go outside.

"Two ghosts?" I ask. "Did I really just see two ghosts?"

"Yep." Tucker says.

"You get used to them." Sam added.

"That would have been nice to put in the pamphlet." I mutter. "So ghost attacks are . . . normal here?"

"I wouldn't say normal, but they do happen a lot." Tucker informed.

"Ghosts." I say in frustration. "Are you trying to pull a prank on the new kid?"

"Does it look like we're pulling a prank?" Sam said. "You're the only one that's over reacting about it."

"Hey, guys." Danny said as he sat down next to Sam. "What did I miss?"

"Did you see the ghosts?" I asked.

"No. Jazz took me to . . . her locker." He said nervous-like.

"She's in denial." Sam told him.

I stood up took my bag with me, "You don't have to leave." Danny said.

"I'm just throwing my trash away." I said. I left the table and tossed the bag in the trash and began to walk back when I see something through the glass window like wall. There were trees and in between two of them, he was there. His white cape, green skin, black hair, and red eyes that were burning into me. "Um, I forgot to ask Mr. Lancer a question about the homework," I lied, "So I'll see you guys later or . . . tomorrow."

"I'll walk you there." Danny said.

I rearranged my hair so it was covering my face so he couldn't see me from outside, but he wasn't there anymore. "Um . . . " I looked out the window where he was hovering, I could have sworn he was there just a couple seconds ago. " . . . Never mind, I'll just talk to him after school." I sat back down and looked confusingly out the window, again.

"Are you okay?" Tucker asked.

"Uh, yeah." I looked away from the window. "Just paranoid, I guess."

"About what?" Danny asked.

"Nothing that involves you." I tell him. It sounded a little mean, but I just really didn't want anyone being able to be linked back to that side of myself. No one should be linked to that side of myself. "So, what do you guys usually talk about?"

They looked at each other, waiting for each other to answer. I placed my cold fingers on my warm neck, waiting for the same thing. "What did you talk about yesterday?" I asked.

"You." Sam said with no emotion. She was picking at the last tomato in her salad. Danny and Tucker looked at her with wide eyes, then looked back at me.

"You're the new girl, everyone was talking about you." Tucker said.

"Whatever." I said.

When the bell rang I was relieved to go back to my locker, and because of the stone walls surrounding me, I had no fear of Vlad's evil eyes training on me from an unknown distance, watching my every move. But now I do know that I will never escape ghosts as long as I'm here. I thought that the only upside to this move was that I could leave the fast behind me. Hakuna matata or some shit. But that's not happening now.


	3. Chapter 3

"Sweetie," I hear my mother's voice in the doorway and lift my head, "What are you doing up so late?" She nears me while I close my laptop and move it so she can sit down next to me.

"I can't sleep." I tell her.

"Why?" She asks, "Aren't you tired?"

"Yeah," I said.

She wraps her arm around me and makes space on her shoulder for my head to be placed. I couldn't tell her I was scared to fall asleep, because I could wake up in a different place than where I fell asleep. It would freak her out and I'd have to explain what she doesn't know.

"I keep feeling like I'm being watched or something." I sigh.

"It's just that new place feeling. You'll get used to it." She rubs my arm.

"Did you know this place has ghosts?" I ask.

"I thought I told you that before we moved here?" She said. "This place was known for it's ghost sightings."

"I must have thought you were joking." I replied.

She then recalls that I brought it up, "Did you see one today?"

"Two, maybe three." I inform her.

"Maybe?"

"I think the third was only my imagination." I say.

"Well, don't worry. No ghosts will get you here. There's a ghost kid protecting Amity Park from all those ghosts." My mom gives me a kiss on my forehead and then begins to leave my room.

"Ghost kid?" I ask.

"Yeah, Larry Phantom or something." She says. "They where talking about him on the news earlier." I pull my knees to my chest and she speaks again, "There is nothing to worry about. Get some sleep."

I sigh and shut down my laptop while my mom closes the door behind her as she leaves. I lay down and look at the blank ceiling, unable to forget of the events in my past. The mistakes I made where haunting me and I wanted to hit myself for some of the things I've done. Nothing too life changing enters my mind, only the things that made my friends laugh and make me want to jump off a bridge. But this happens almost every night.

That morning didn't seem different until I left my house. I must have walked four yards when I found myself in an alley, pressed against the wall, his hand on my thought, and my feet dangling from the ground. Cold breath escaped my mouth and Vlad's bright red eyes where burning into mine.

"Let go of me." I shout as I kick my legs, with no effect to actually injure him.

"Now, why would I do that?" He asks with a grin.

"Get off me, mother fucker!" I scream and struggle to be freed from his grasp.

He uses his powers to cover my mouth and body onto the wall with ecto-goo. I couldn't move or say anything as he paced across from me. "Strange that yesterday I came to toy with Daniel and I find you. Both of my prey where together, how fantastic?"

I start to struggle with the goo and try to move my arms. He must have noticed and said, "Why don't you change and break your way out?"

I stopped struggling and gave him the death glare. I was not changing. There was no way in hell I was going to do something he tells me to do. I wanted to tell him so, but the goop was keeping both my lips sealed shut. I felt tears beginning to form at the corners of my eyes because of frustration.

I wanted to do something, do anything, and I was about to, but then a ghost ray came from the street and Vlad went flying towards the brick wall across from the one I was plastered to. I look to the direction it came from and I see a boy - er, ghost - floating at the edge of the alley. Images from the day before come back to me. He was ghost number two, the one who smashed the octopus ghost through the wall. He was the black and white blur.

"Plasmius." The ghost boy said. "Picking on innocent people? Thant's a new low for you."

"Oh, Daniel. How have I missed your cluelessness?" Vlad said in his usual tone. "Innocent is not the word I would use to describe this girl." _Daniel_ glanced at me and I felt like curling up into a ball. "You can have her for now."

Vlad waved his hand and the ecto-paste disappears, making me fall to the ground on my hands and knees. "But be sure, Eleanor . . . " I raise my head to face him, ". . . I'll be back for you." And he jumps into the air and flys away at a high speed.

I see a hand stretched out for me, "Let me help you." He says. I take his hand and he pulled me to my feet.

"Thanks." I said, "Who are you?"

"I'm Danny Phantom." He said. The memory of _Larry Phantom _that my mom was talking about last night comes back to me. I'm guessing she got the first name wrong. "But the more important question is _What does Vlad want with you_?"

"I don't think that's any of you're business." I say.

"Look," Danny says, "You're probably in danger and I'd be happy to help."

"I don't want your help." I told him. I walked past him and started making my way towards school again. I heard his footsteps behind me, but they quickly came to a stop. I turn my head and see him standing there for a second and then he was flying the other direction.

On my walk to school I was trying to piece things together. Vlad knows I'm here, because he saw me in the cafeteria when Danny Phantom was fighting the ectopus. Vlad sent the ectopus after Danny. He's going to take me back to his lab when he finds me next time. He also has something against Danny Phantom. Danny Phantom wants to help me. But why? _Why?_ That was the question in my mind.

When I get to school I open my locker to do the usual things in there, but then I hear another surprising voice. "Let's get things strait." Sam says. I turn around to face her, we both had crossed arms. "I know your hiding something."

"Why do you assume so?" I ask.

"Because you have that tough girl act and you don't want to be around anyone. What kind of insane person doesn't need friends?" She looked frustrated.

"Me." I tell her, closing my locker.

"Why?" She asks.

"Because they always assume I'm hiding secrets from them." I say sarcastically and then I walk away to my first class. This day I already knew was going to suck and school hasn't even started, yet.

I was so pissed off I began thinking of ways to sneak out of school and go back to sleep. I thought maybe I could just go to the roof and sleep up there. Or maybe I could just run home and sneak past my parents. I could tell the nurse I have a headache and I might have to call my parents to go home. I might be able to . . . . And that's how I occupied myself through the day.

Lunch was . . . not as eventful as the day before. They asked simple questioned like, "What your friends where like in Florida?" and "What do your parents do for a living?" They didn't talk about themselves, though, and that made me feel even weirder than I did before.

My last two classes where painfully boring and all I did was question everyone's existence. And that was a lot more fun than it sounds. I thought about Florida, the sunny beach, and the swampy trees. I thought about the friends that I had there and how sporty they where, always wanting to know who was the fastest. And I was always either first or second.

I'd hate to say I miss them, because they called me a creep more than once. The place I lived before that, my best friends' nickname for me was Jiggles because of hos my arms jiggled when I waved at them. And before that I didn't really have friends because I was the fat kid and they where just like, "oh, the retard" or something. Well, I found another upside of Amity Park, but it's not enough to cover up the ghost fact.

"Ms. Monroe," I heard the teacher call from the front of the class, putting the phone back on the receiver. "You're checking out."

I couldn't help but smile as I walked out of the room and I quickly break into a run as the realization that I'm free from the last hours of school comes to my mind. I decide that running is too much for my fat ass and so I began skipping, By the time the front office is in sight, I stop in my tracks and hide behind a corner.

In human form, with grey hair and a black suit, was Vlad Masters. I start backing up the hallway, so he doesn't see me. When I get back to the classroom, the teacher was telling me that I'm supposed to be up in the office for check out again, but I say, "There's a mix up."

I sit back down and three minutes later the phone rings, again. I listen closely to the teachers conversation. "She said that there was a mix up . . . I don't know . . . Are you sure it's Eleanor Monroe? . . . Okay, I'll send her down." Then the teacher hung up again.

"I'm going." I told him before he told me. I walked down to the office and looked at the back of Vlad's head. But then he turned around. Forcing me to hide behind the corner as his eyes trained on me. I was scared and didn't know what to do, then it hit me.

I walked up to the woman behind the desk. As Vlad put his arm around me and said, "There's my little honey badger."

"Do I know you?" I asked

"C'mon, it's me, Vlad!" I pushed him off me before he could say more.

"I don't know this creepy old man, get him away from me." I said to the woman.

The woman behind the desk stood up and walked around and shewed Vlad away. "What kind of creep are you, trying to kidnap little girls. That's some sick minded foolery."

Vlad fended off, saying things like, "But I showed you the papers!"

"She said she don't know you." She shouted and pushed him out the door. "Honey, I promise that man will never bother you, again." I almost laughed, because I knew she only ment in school and as a human, but I thanked her. "Go back to class, now."

"Thank you, again." I said as I walked out of the office.


	4. Chapter 4

I was scared as hell when school let out. Vlad could be right outside, around a corner, even in my house just waiting to take me back. I felt my breathing get heavy as the ideas came rushing into my conscious. I was taking too long at my locker on purpose, but I realized that one can organize their locker only so many times before it becomes creepy looking.

I stood up and quickly walked out of the building, trying to blend with the other kids leaving school grounds. I thought that things where going okay for a few good seconds; there was no sign of Vlad around. I let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. It was only a few steps later I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I made a quick, "Don't touch me." I said to the dark-haired boy with the bright blue eyes. For a second I forgot who he was, but a quick realization made my heart twist. "Oh, hey, Danny." I gripped my backpack straps tighter than I ever could.

"Eleanor, hey." Danny scratched the back of his neck and gave out a small laugh. "Heh," He looked a little nervous, "Um, I was sort of wondering if you would mind . . . if I, sort of, walked you home." He then flashed me a smile that made me smile a bit, and a huge pain in my chest appear and leave again.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Wouldn't you rather hang out with Tucker and Sam?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, no." He stutters. "I want to walk you home. I'd understand if you say no, though. So . . . it's you're choice."

I almost did say no, but then I thought that there was a smaller chance of Vlad coming out of hiding if I was with someone else. "Sure." I said. "You can walk me home." I saw a smile appear on his face and he stepped next to me.

"So, where in Florida are you from?" He asks.

"Pensacola, it's in the ice block under Alabama." I told him.

"Where else have you lived?" He asked.

"The list is too long for me to remember." I tell him.

"So, you moved around more than I thought." He says.

"I don't think I ever stayed in the same place for more than a year."

"Yeah, I lived here my whole life, so I guess I can't relate to you with that." He said. After a one minute silence, we turn the corner on a block and he asks, "Where do you live, exactly?"

"I don't know the address, I just know how to get there." I said.

We passed under a tall building with a large_ Fenton Works _sign. "This is where I live." Danny said, both of us pausing to look up at the sign.

"So what is _Fenton Works_?" I asked.

"Well, you see, my parents are sort of ghost hunters." I felt every muscle in my body twitch for a small millisecond when he said "ghost hunters."

"Ghost hunters?" I repeat as a question.

We begin to walk past the building. "Yeah, they can be nutty at times, but they're usually - " He doesn't finish the sentence because we are quickly trapped in a net. It came out of no where and pushed us into the alley between Danny's house and his neighbor's. We both tried to tear our way out, but I noticed that it wasn't going to work, because the ropes that the net was made out of were glowing in a bright shade of red.

As if out of no where, Plasmius was floating in front of us. Danny was still struggling with the net as he said, "What do you want, Plasmius?"

"You know him?" I ask quickly. "How do you know him?"

"How do _you_?" Danny replies.

Things began to wonder through my head. Danny . . . Vlad . . . Me . . . nothing stuck together-nothing was fitting. It was as if there were a bunch of pieces to a puzzle that wouldn't connect. I felt like I was tying to make a paper mache with no glue.

Meanwhile, Vlad was chuckling over us. I looked at him, waiting for him to say something, but he was only staring back at us. I looked back at Danny, his were trained on me, but his head quickly turn back to the ropes he was trying to separate.

"Well, look what we have here." Vlad says as he floats closer towards us.

_This is it_. I began to think. _It's time to except my fate. He's going to take me back to his lab. I'm going back without saying goodbye to my family, without doing one last normal, happy thing. I don't want to go back. _My eyes began to water as I thought of this, I held them back, trying not to show weakness.

"It appears that I've got both of my pray together, again." Vlad continued.

By breathing got slower and my heart felt like it was being ripped out of my chest. _This can't be happening. This can't be happening._ I kept telling myself. Tears kept threatening to fall from my eyes.

"Crying, now, are we Eleanor?" Vlad's face came an inch away from mine and then he began to whisper. "Or should I say . . . _Electra_?"

Within milliseconds all the hatred and fear inside me builds up inside me and I aim my hand at Vlad's chest and a bright green ray comes out of it and he flies up and lands out of my eyesight. I take deep breaths and then notice that Danny is staring at me with questioning eyes.

I ignore them and use the whole that my ecto-blast created in the net to exit the cage. I help Danny up afterwards. For a second, we were just standing there in silence, not sure what to say to each other.

"We better go, before he comes back." I say awkwardly.

"And you've got a lot of explaining to do." Danny said.

"I'm not the only one." I placed a hand on my hip.

"C'mon," Danny grabbed my hand, "We'll be safe in my house." He walked me up the steps and opened the unlocked door. We emerged into his living room, where his family was seated.

"Danny," I asumed it was his mom who said it, "who's this?"

Danny and I glanced down at our interwoven hands and then quickly let go.

"I'm Eleanor." I waved.

"We'll be up in my room." Danny told them and then I followed him up the stairs, into his room, and then he closed the door behind us.

"Okay, how is this safe?" I asked.

"It just is." He replied as he walked closer to me.

"Now what do you have to do with Plasmius?" Danny asked. "And why do you have ghost powers? Or at least a power."

"Why don't you answer that first?" I asked.

He sighed and then said, "My parents went to college with Vlad and where best friends, then, so he's sort of my uncle."

"But why is he after you, too?" I asked.

"Why is he after you?" He asked.

"Because I ran away." I said sort of calmly.

He looked at me with confusion. "You ran away?"

"It's long and complicated." I say.

"I've got the time." Danny crosses his arms.

"But I don't." I said, sitting down on his bed. "My parents will be wondering where I am, soon. And I don't think it'd come across well when I tell them I had to tell a stranger why an old creep is wants to take me back to his lab."

"Well, too bad because you're not leaving until I hear the whole story." Danny said, sitting next to me.

"How about I show you?" I ask.

"Show me?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "Show me what?"

"Just . . . " I looked for the words. "Just wait."

I was nervous. I never thought I'd do what I was doing then again. I closed my eyes and looked inside myself, searching for the demon inside me. Quicker than I had expected, I saw a flash on the other side of my eye lids. When I opened my eyes, I was terrified as memories came back to me.

My skin was pale, almost chalk white. I wore a skin tight, green suit with black outlining, black boots, and black gloves. But what has changed the most is my brown hair, it had turned into a bright shade of red and moved and glowed like fire. I blinked my, now bright green, eyes and then glanced at Danny.

"You're . . . half ghost?" He asked.

"Yeah, you can say that." I said.

"But . . . " Danny stuttered. "How?"

I decided that I had nothing to lose telling him the story. "The first time I was left alone in my house for an extended period of time was about a month ago, when my grandma died and my parents had to go to the funeral, but they didn't want me to miss any school. But one morning . . . "

_My eyelids where heavy as I lifted them. I was unsure where I was, but that idea didn't impact me until I realized I wasn't able to move. I looked down at my body, I was strapped onto an examination table, where my limbs where trapped. My arms where stuck next to my waist and legs kicked, trying to break free._

_ "Don't even try." A voice said from behind me. I turned my head the very little it can to see who it was. Walking out from the shadows, was a green skinned man. "Those barriers will with hold any human strength."_

_ "Who are you?" I asked. "Where am I? What's going on?"_

_ "I am Plasmius, Vlad Plasmius." He smiled creepily. "This is my secret lab, and you, Miss Monroe, have been specially selected for a personal experiment of mine."_

_ "Experiment?" I asked. "What kind of experiment?"_

_ "I'll explain when it's over." He smirked and then pushed the table closer to a giant hole in the wall._

_ "What the fuck?" I shouted. "Come back and explain what the fuck is going on mother fucker!" But he didn't do so._

_ "3, 2, . . . 1." I heard him shout and then there was a flash. A bright green death ray coated me and pain covered every inch of my body. I was screaming loudly. Tears started to build up in the corners of my eyes and I begged for it to stop. It felt like years, but it stopped only after seconds. I felt myself being slid out of the chamber and Vlad's face was smiling above me._

_ "What . . . did . . . you . . . do to me?" I asked._

_ "Don't worry child, all will be explained, soon." Then he covered my face with a clothe and I blacked out. When I woke up it was not back in my bed. I panicked about my new surroundings, but something was saying that everything from before was a dream._

_ But then the door opened and an old man stepped inside, Vlad. "You're awake." He said and he happily brought over a tray with something on it._

_ "What am I doing here?" I asked._

_ "My experiment went well, Eleanor." He said as I take a cookie from his tray. "You were the only one to survive."_

_ I start coughing, choking on a chocolate chip. "Other people died?"_

_ "Sadly, yes. Lives donated to science." Vlad said innocently. "Come, dear, we need to start your training."_

_ "Training?" I asked. "No, I'm not staying here. I want to go home."_

_ "Home? In Florida?" Vlad asked. "Why would you want to go back to the parents who left you to suffer in school while they went to away for a whole week?"_

_ I quickly got an idea in my head. I played it so that I looked like I was starting to hate my parents. "You're . . . you're right."_

_ "I thought you'd see it my way." He smiled. "C'mon let's go to training."_

_ He taught me how to use my ghost powers. How to morph, and turn invisible, and much more things. He explained the Ghost Zone and about the ghosts who live there. He tout me almost everything he knew for the price of living with him for the rest of eternity, pretending to be his daughter._

_ I left as soon as I had enough knowledge to at least weaken him enough so that a got a head start to leave and go back to my home. My parents suspected nothing and I thought I'd have nothing to do with ghost ever again._


End file.
